Skin belies aging like no other organ. It takes all the blame, while in fact it only reflects what it covers. The skin is the outermost organ of our body. Its purpose is to cover our deeper structures and first of all, the muscles. Read the rest of this entry »

They’re good for you…that is until they’re bad. You don’t have to look far these days to find nutrition science changing its mind right and left. Oat bran is good for you, they tell us, and it’s a “must,” plastered across every cereal box. Next thing you know, they’ve discovered it’s not such a great idea. First you hear caffeine is bad for you, then the nutria-gurus recommend we drink a coffee a day for the antioxidants. So what about vitamins? For decades now we’ve all been assured we need a good multi-vitamin every day just to be sure our bases are covered. Read the rest of this entry »

Got coarse-textured hair that grows fast? Good for you! My own hair is fine (meaning each individual hair strand has a small diameter) and growing it has always been a challenge. Now, this would be just great if I were sporting a cute little pixie cut—it would be simple and practical.

But no—not me. I’ve always wanted long hair. Always preferred it. This was challenging enough in my youth. But after 40, it just hasn’t grown as readily. And once my hair reaches a certain length, it seems just to stop growing altogether. If your age is forties or better, you know exactly what I mean. For some of us, growing hair can be as challenging as growing palm trees in the arctic. Read the rest of this entry »

I got an interesting e-mail a while back: I thought you might find this interesting, Tonya. In the Ladies Home Journal (Christie Brinkley on the cover, July 2009, page 141), a study is quoted…’in fact, there’s evidence your body is less efficient at filtering out toxins when your water intake is higher.’ That, Tonya, is what you say in your books!!! Read the rest of this entry »

During the last eight years I have learned a great deal about cosmetics, how they’re made, and what’s possible and impossible, quite apart from the marketing claims. The catalogue of misleading messages employed by manufacturers, advertisers and labelers is a vast and fascinating one. Let’s look at a few… Read the rest of this entry »

You know that old saying. A Watched Pot Never Boils… Facial exercises do work, but I need to warn you not to watch too closely. Many women have, with a zealous and discerning eye, looked so closely at their faces once they began my Rawsome Flex program, that they start to see things that they had never noticed before. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonya Zavasta is 53 years young

The sun has quite a rap-sheet. Just about every degree of assault and battery you can name, from the mere annoyance of a little sunburn around the backyard pool to full-on skin cancer. Freckles, liver spots, red blotches, wrinkles, and dry skin—the sun “takes the heat” for them all. And the older we get, the more we blame old Sol.

Actually, I abhor the phrase “sun damage.” The sun per se does not create these problems. Toxins in the body are what do the damage, directly. Unless you’re on a sound raw foods diet, sunlight will have an ill effect on the skin. Sunbathing is downright dangerous for those on a standard high-fat American diet or who don’t get an abundance of raw fruits and vegetables. An average person must take steps to protect herself from the sun. The trouble is…you are then missing out on all the benefits that sunlight brings. Read the rest of this entry »

Some argue against facial massage, facial exercise and especially against dry-brushing, on the ground that facial skin is extra-sensitive. A better way to state the truth: Facial skin is different. Check it out: Under a microscope, you’ll see the cells making up the top layer of the face are generally smaller than skin cells. Read the rest of this entry »

Metabolism is the set of chemical and biological reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. Through eating, drinking, breathing, and assimilating, we degenerate due to metabolism’s reactive by-products. Metabolism causes damage, and this damage eventually causes pathology. Every organism that metabolizes also dies because of this metabolic process. Metabolism keeps us alive and metabolism eventually will kill us. The fitness industry is all about “boosting your metabolism.” On the other hand, leading anti-aging research is all about slowing down metabolism through caloric restriction. Seems like a paradox? Read the rest of this entry »

Skin blemishes appear in myriad ways, some sudden and acute, others developing over time. But all bear the unsavory characteristic of being highly visible, more often than not on the face. They make us feel self-conscious, looking less than our best. Read the rest of this entry »